All News articles – Page 1329
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News
Pro bono hours dip as cuts loom
The average amount of pro bono work undertaken by solicitors has fallen by nearly 15% over the past year, according to a Law Society survey published today. Although Chancery Lane says the decline reflects a narrower definition than that used in previous polls, the trend will renew fears about access ...
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ECJ blocks Hungarian retirement law
The Hungarian government’s widely criticised attempt to cull the country’s judiciary by lowering the retirement age of judges to 62 has run foul of the European Court of Justice. The court ruled this week that the changes constituted unjustified discrimination.
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Blazing a trail: women and the judiciary
Who was the first woman judge in England and Wales? If you replied ‘Elizabeth Lane’, award yourself an A grade: Lane (1905-1998) became the first female county court judge in 1962, moving to the High Court three years later.
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Bare essentials
As Gazette readers will know, debate rumbles on between lawyers and the Legal Services Commission about the timeliness of payments. Invited by the Law Society president to crowd-source solutions for parts of the legal profession that are struggling, Obiter cast a productive set of yeux ...
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Bureaucracy is dragging the criminal justice system back centuries
by Christopher Coltart, a barrister at 2 Hare Court Historically, it was by no means easy for an acquitted defendant to recover legal costs. Indeed, until 1774, acquitted defendants were not even released from custody until their prison dues had been paid.
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Anachronistic nonsense
Now that the Bar Council has decided to imitate the stupidity of our side of the profession and allow barristers to practise in an alternative business structure, why is it continuing to maintain the pretence of the cab-rank principle? This only ever existed in the way ...
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News
All fright on the night
Last week’s London Legal Support Trust Halloween thrash was held in the appropriately sepulchral precincts of the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn. The drinks reception in the Hunterian Museum of anatomy beforehand was certainly not suitable for those of a nervous disposition. Jar after ...
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Society steps in over Hamza legal aid row
The Law Society has offered to work with the government to increase public understanding and confidence in legal aid after the justice minister announced an ‘immediate examination’ of the system following the Abu Hamza extradition case. Chris Grayling ordered the review yesterday after it emerged ...
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APIL slams £500k ‘token gesture’ crime victim fund
The government is to push through cuts of £50m from compensation to crime victims - but will provide a £500,000 hardship fund to help some victims excluded under the reform. Lawyers denounced the measure as ‘a token gesture’. Justice minister Helen Grant told parliament last week ...
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Digital by default
For some reason it failed to top the world’s news agenda, but yesterday the government announced a revolution in the way it interacts with citizens and businesses. The Cabinet Office published a strategy for Whitehall to go ‘digital by default’, meaning that Amazon-style online transactions will finally replace paper forms, ...
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Claims managers to cough up more for regulation
The government is to raise fees for claims management regulation as it prepares for an exodus of companies from the market. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates claims management companies (CMCs), plans to raise application fees in 2013/14 by 47% and remove the current cap on ...
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Forensic science: the police piper calls the tune
Alistair Logan provides a powerful account of the disturbing consequences of the enforced closure of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). We, who were members of the FSS until its closure, write to amplify the concerns that he expressed.
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PII market shrinks as firms shop around
Law firms appear to have shopped around more in 2012 than in previous years as they spent £240m on professional indemnity insurance. The leading three insurers’ share of the market fell from 43% to 38%, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority today. XL ...
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Teaching lawyers not to be shy
Is shyness holding you back in your legal career? Whether it’s a networking event, a meeting, a public speaking opportunity or even a pitch to a new client – all of these can be painful experiences if you are very shy. And if you are avoiding ...
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ABS takes the high road to Scottish market
Recent alternative business structure convert Parabis has announced a move into the Scottish market. The firm says its expansion has been driven by demand from clients in England and Wales and is reflective of a changing legal profession in Scotland. The new Parabis office in Glasgow ...
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‘No guarantees’ RTA Portal will be ready for new role
The operator of the RTA Portal has said there are ‘no guarantees’ that changes needed to extend the claims system’s scope will be completed by the government’s April 2013 implementation date. Changes to the electronic claims system are being made to meet the Ministry of Justice’s ...
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Which? welcomes new civil court powers
Consumer charity Which? has welcomed government proposals to give courts new powers to provide redress for consumers. Executive director Richard Lloyd said plans outlined in a consultation on civil enforcement remedies ‘should help ensure consumers are no longer left out of pocket if they ...
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Plea for unification of international legal bodies
I spent some days last week in Dresden at the annual conference of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), which - with the International Bar Association (IBA) - is one of the two organisations serving lawyers worldwide. What I want to know is: why must there be two?
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News
PC renewal system working ‘quite well’ after initial bug
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has admitted that a software bug caused the ‘volume issues’ that prevented some solicitors from renewing their practising certificates through the mySRA website last week. The regulator said that the problem had been resolved and that extra capacity will be added to ...
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Private equity fund takes stake in Keoghs
Regional firm Keoghs has secured a ‘significant investment’ from a private equity investor following approval as an alternative business structure this week. Mayfair-based LDC, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, is to buy a 22.5% share in the firm in a deal that will formally complete ...